Happy Holidays from Maria Contreras-Sweet and the SBA

In recent years there’s been a lot of noise about whether or not the SBA still provides value to the small business community. Granted, they aren’t the biggest source of capital for small business, but they are an important source. Earlier this week SBA Administrator, Maria Contreras-Sweet published a Christmas greeting in the Huffington Post, ‘Twas the Night Before Big Business, Once Started Small, we’d like to share.

She mentions several household names that got their start with SBA financing. Famous Footwear, Yankee Candle, Under Armor, Build-a-Bear, Nutri-System, and Outback Steakhouse all started with SBA-guaranteed loans. Other companies, including FedEx, Sun Microsystems, Intel, and Apple Computers are success stories of the SBA-supported Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs).

“If you plan to stock up on holiday desserts at Costco or take the family to Outback Steakhouse or Quiznos for a meal—or if you burn off those calories later using Jenny Craig or Nutri-System—in each case you’ll be patronizing an SBIC success story,” writes Contreras-Sweet.

It makes me wonder, how many future companies like Apple or Under Armor are looking for an SBA-guaranteed loan today?

What’s more, how many lesser known, but very successful companies, got started with SBA-backed financing of one kind or another? Most of them might never become household names, but they have a positive impact in local communities, collectively they hire a lot of people, and they help keep Main Street alive in cities all across the United States.

“The SBA’s mission is to help small businesses grow,” she writes. “When companies that were once small become some of America’s biggest brands with our help, it gives all of us here at the agency a reason for holiday cheer.”

“Season’s greetings, everyone. I hope you and yours have a wonderful holiday. To paraphrase “Twas the Night Before Christmas…”